The Dance
by The-Other-Ghostwriter
Summary: Set after the end of the manga. The Major plans to invade Hellsing from the inside out at a masquerade ball, but he gets distracted by a lonely vampire girl. Major/Seras Oneshot


_Yes, another one-shot. In my defense, this one has been swimming in my head for MONTHS. It's based off of the song 'The Dance' by Garth Brooks._

**The Dance**

In the year of 2030, Alucard's apparent return to the physical world was not the only monumental thing to occur. While Hellsing had spent thirty years rebuilding and continuing it's work against the dreaded creatures of the night, another being had spent those same thirty years rebuilding something else entirely.

True that the Doktor had been destroyed along with the airship, but what hadnt been destroyed was the computer back at the base in South America. That computer was directly linked to a special Chip residing in Dok's body that responded at the moment of his death. The response was to awaken a stasis cybernetic body with the memory of Dok. In simple terms, a backup Dok. As soon as this Dok was tapped, he got to work on an unfinished project--another Major.

It was quite some work; the easy--though long it was--part was building the body; the hard part was the reinhabitation process. It was hard enough the first time in 1942. Then, it was much easier to obtain occult texts to transfer a soul--or _will_, as the Major called it--into the cybernetic body Dok had built. But those texts and the notes he took had perished along with the rest of the first Millennium Vampire Research Lab in Poland, year 1944. So all Dok had to run on was memory.

It took two years of memory racking and whatever tidbits of information that had been jotted down in random notebooks, but Dok finally managed to summon the Major's will into the new body.

* * *

"Herr Major, have you seen this?"

The Major looked up from his afternoon meal at his Doktor. "Vhat do you mean, Dok?" Dok handed the Major a newspaper.

"This, Herr Major..."

Curious as to what had his Doktor so excited, the Major opened up the paper and his eyes immediately caught what his Doktor was talking about. On the front page was an announcement that there was to be a gala event for all of the major country's midian extermination leaders; obviously a prevention protocol. Since the Vampire War thirty-odd years ago, the entire world was fully aware of the existance of vampires, and just to be safe and save time in the event of a vampire, or even FREAK attack, it was decided that all major countries would have a vampire extermination service.

After skimming over the article, the Major looked back up at Dok, who had something akin to a 'Eurika' expression on his face. "...Though I haf a few ideas of my own, Dok," he said slowly, folding the article up, "I fail to follow your train of thought. Do you vant I should bomb the place und be rid of them?" Dok made and exasperated sound.

"Not exactly, Herr Major," he replied. "I vas thinking more along the lines of infiltration." Major blinked.

"...I'm not sure how that vould vork out, Dok," he said, going back to his meal. "I'm quite sure zat all of the vorld's wampire exterminators are vell-known to each other..."

"......Again, not exactly." Dok took a seat across from his Major. "I did my research on zis, Herr Major, und as of now, the wampire hunters for Hungary, Germany, North America, und Norvay are quite unknown to the rest of the major countries. Incognito, really. I vas thinking that _you_ could infiltrate as the wampire hunter of Germany!"

The Major blinked slowly. "You're a genius, Dok," he replied, forking a piece of beef into him mouth. "But that.....ist quite a stupid idea." He turned his attention back to his meal.

Dok stared at Major for a moment. ".....I beg to differ, Herr Major," he retorted after a moment. The Major actually looked up. Times when Dok 'begged to differ' were rare. Dok grinned.

"It's a masquerade ball."

* * *

The next week, the Major was still asking himself _how_ he let Dok talk him into this. At the moment, Dok was fitting him for an outfit that they had argued about for the past three days, and now had settled on a white and blue color scheme. It was much like his normal wear, except the jacket had coat tails, blue trimming, blue mother-of-pearl buttons, and the collared shirt was blue. His tie was white with a blue jeweled tie pin. His pants were thankfully pure white, and his shoes were white with a small blue swirl pattern on the sides and back. The Major thought the outfit made him look more homosexual than Liberace, but Dok insisted that he looked fine.

The worst and most painful part was when Dok had to manually change the Major's eye color from gold to blue and make his hair a more fair shade of blonde and slicked back instead of parted to the side. Nothing really could be done about his height, for that would take too long. The last thing to be done was the mask, which was white with blue accents that matched his outfit and his new eye color perfectly. Overall, the Major absolutely hated it. Dok, however, was thrilled with his work.

Earlier, the Major had sent some undercover operatives to Germany to put the German vampire hunter out of commission until after the night was over, and steal his important documents and seal that would make the Major's portrayal of a vampire hunter that much more convincing. He came to find that the German vampire hunter's name was ironically Max Something-or-Other, so that wouldnt be too hard to introduce himself to anyone who asked his name.

And now came the fun, easy part--getting to the party hosted by Sir Integra Hellsing herself. Dok went with him halfway, staying at a nearby hotel with some soldiers just in case, and the Major hijacked a limo to take him the rest of the way to the Hellsing Mansion. The ride was uneventful; he passed some other limos carrying the other vampire hunters, but that was about it. Finally, the large, beautiful mansion came in sight and the Major heaved a sigh and pulled his mask on. '_Show time_', he thought bitterly to himself.

At check-in, he showed the inspector 'his' vampire hunters, inc. seal and was allowed through with a nod, then someone else opened the door for him, and he stepped out. He looked around, and felt somewhat better about Dok's choice of clothing; some of the other people looked absolutely ridiculous. Putting on a smile, he adjusted the collar of his white coat and walked himself into the mansion, following the other vampire hunters.

_Fraulein_ Hellsing certainly outdid herself with the decorations; it was quite exquisite and a fresh change from the mostly military surroundings back in South America. He took a look around, and immediately saw her. _Fraulein_ Hellsing.

The Englishwoman; his Valkyrie of the last War; the Iron Maiden of vampire hunting......she was still exquisitely beautiful. He could tell it was her not from just the height and the way she held herself, but the fact that her mask had only one eye hole on the right sort of gave it away. Her color scheme was gold; just gold. The dress was long and dramatic, letting everyone know who was the top vampire hunter here. He was so busy looking at her that he barely noticed who was next to her.

Alucard.

The Major felt his jaw tighten at the sight of the vampire, whose color sceme was predictably red and black; his mask was nothing more than what looked like he had painted the top half of his face with black paint and added extra red eyes around his normal ones. He was standing close to his Master, and hand his hand resting gently on the small of her back possessively. It almost made the Major burst a circuit at the sight.

"Disgusting, isnt it?"

The Major turned and saw what was most definitely the North American vampire hunter; as though the red, white, and blue didnt give her away. She was staring at the odd pair with disdain. The Major nodded.

"_Jawohl,_ indeed," he replied. Miss America shook her head.

"Inviting vampires to a vampire hunter's ball," she said, her hands on her hips. "It's unethical, really. I mean, I can somewhat understand that fellow over there." She gestured to Alucard. "I hear he's her protection, but for the love of God, did she have to bring her other pet, too?"

The Major arched a brow in question, and she pointed to the other side of the room. The Major looked, and blinked.

Seras Victoria. Hellsing's other vampire employee.

"Oh, oui." The obviously French vampire hunter stepped beside the American one. "I thought zat Mademoiselle Hellsing 'ad better sense zan to bring 'er pets to such an event."

The Major tuned out the banter and instead focused on Seras Victoria. The vampire girl was sitting alone in a chair, apart from the rest of the crowd. Her hands were clasped in her lap, and every once and awhile, she would look up, as though waiting for someone. The Major also saw that nearly everyone not from England was giving the girl scathing or unpleasantly curious looks, and when the girl saw those looks, her head would lower once more.

Aware that Miss America and Monsieur France were still talking to him but ignoring every word, the Major straightened up and made his way into the crowd toward Seras. Somewhere in his mind, he felt slightly peeved. Did they not know that _Fraulein_ Hellsing was just one piece of the puzzle that saved their asses? After all, it _was_ Seras Victoria that had a hand in killing him thirty-plus years back. It _was_ Seras Victoria that saved the Hellsing Director more than once. Did they not know that? Or did they choose to forget it?

He finally made it in front of the girl, who was still sitting still in her chair, her hands clasped and head lowered. Her posture was slightly tensed, as though expecting a harsh word. The Major just smiled and held out his hand so it was in her line of vision.

"Vould you care to _tanz_, _Fraulein_?"

Seras's head snapped up, her expression surprised, even through her mask. He saw her eyes slide back and forth between his face and his hand for a moment, as though he were about to play a cruel trick on her. When his hand didnt waver, she finally nodded and took it, and he helped her to her feet, and took her in for a moment.

He was a little surprised to see that she was sporting the same color scheme as he. Her dress was white with tiny blue rhinestones making pretty swirl patterns; the dress came down to the floor, and was fitted loosely to both show off her figure and be tastefully conservative. Her upper arm-length gloves were pure white. Her mask very closely resembled his. Anyone with a passing glance would have thought that they had come together as a couple

Ignoring the stares that some of the other people were giving them, the Major led Seras to the middle of the dance floor as a classic tune struck up and took a waltz position with her. Seras shakily followed for the first few steps, then seemed to gain some confidence and kept up with him perfectly.

"You _tanz_ vell, _Fraulein_," he said, smiling. He saw Seras's cheeks pinken slightly.

"Thank you," she replied. She fell silent when she noticed the stares again and drew subconsciously closer to him. The Major chuckled.

"You faced un army of wampires, saved the vorld, und you're afraid of a few stares?" Seras looked up at him, astonished.

"...You.....know that I'm a...?"

"Vampire?" he finished. "Ja, I knew. Your reputation proceeds you, you know." Seras gaped at him for a moment before looking to the side.

"...Then you know that I'm not even supposed to _be_ here," she finally said. The Major tightened his hand around hers ever-so-slightly.

"You're a wampire who hunts wampires. Hence, wampire _hunter_. You belong here more zan _any_ of these other people. Truthfully, how many true wampire threats haf occurred since thirty years ago?"

Seras fell silent again, her pink cheeks deepening in hue. "...Not many..." she finally said. The Major grinned.

"See my point?" Seras nodded. "_Gut_." The dance continued for another few minutes before the music drew to a close, and the Major stepped back.

"...Thank you for the dance, Mister...um...."

"Max," the Major replied. "Just call me Max."

"Max." Seras smiled a little. "Thank you for the dance, Max." The Major nodded, then turned his head a little when another song he actually recognized strung up.

"...I dont suppose you vould like another?" Seras nibbled her lip.

"You dont mind?" The Major shook his head.

"_Nein,_ in fact, it vould be my pleasure," he replied, taking her up into the waltzing position again. He danced her around, smiling at the fact that she began to not care that people were staring and was just enjoying herself. This was quite a long song, and in that time allotted, the Major allowed Seras to talk about whatever. To his surprise, it was not just mindless girl banter; rather, it was more about her work and how she was sometimes sent to other countries to train men in their services. But in another spin, she felt that ever since Alucard returned to the physical plane of existence, that she felt quite useless. She used to be Sir Integra's confidant, but now that Alucard was back in the picture, she was quite lonely.

By the time the song ended, they had waltzed across the room near an open double-door that led to a balcony. The Major smiled and stepped aside, and Seras smiled back and walked outside and leaned against the stone balcony wall. "It's such a nice night," she said, looking up at the stars. The Major stepped up beside her.

"Indeed," he concurred. They stood in silence for a few moments.

"...Thank you for dancing with me," Seras spoke up. "...It really means a lot to me."

"No problem," the Major replied. "It vas my pleasure." He stared up at the sky for a few moments, enjoying the dimmed silence, before realizing that it was too quiet and looked back over to Seras and his smile wavered a bit. Seras was quietly crying, and using the cloth of her gloves to dab her tears. "_Fraulein_, vhat's the matter?" Seras quickly lifted her mask a little an dried her eyes.

"N-nothing!" she said quickly, replacing her mask back on her face. "Nothing, it's fine! It's fine..." She broke off when the Major put his hand over hers.

"_Nein_," he said softly. "Tell me." Seras looked at him for a moment before lowering her eyes.

"....It's stupid," she said. The Major squeezed her hand a little, prodding her to go on. "....I dont suppose......you would find it foolish or inappropriate......when I say that......you've made me very happy tonight...?" The Major just stared at her for a moment.

"...You cry because you are happy?" he finally said. Seras turned her head away from him.

"No......I cry because......" She broke off, and the Major got the jist, her 'I dont want you to go' going unsaid. The Major just nodded and stood there next to her, a little more than a little uncomfortable with the situation. But Seras did or said nothing more.

How much time went by, the Major didnt know. He had even forgotten what he had even come here for, to be honest with himself. But he actually found that he wasnt having a bad time. And when he looked down after quite a long while, he found that he was still holding her hand. Seras followed his line of vision and noticed it as well, and looked away again quickly. It was almost a cute gesture, and the Major smiled before finally looking at his silver pocket watch.

He had been at this gala for almost five hours. It was already past midnight. Seras seemed to notice.

"...You need to leave soon?" she asked, her eyes sad. The Major nodded.

_"Jawohl_, I do," he replied, a hint of regret in his own voice. He clicked the pocketwatch shut and put it back into his pocket. He gave her hand a little squeeze and let it go. "I had a _wunderbar_ night, Seras. _Danke_."

"No, thank you, Max," she replied, smiling at him. "I dont think......I can tell you how much it meant to me." The Major nodded and turned to leave, then, following a sudden and uncontrollable whim, turned, cupped Seras' cheek, and kissed her.

Seras made a soft sound of surprise, but after a moment kissed him back. They stayed that way for a few moments, then the Major pulled away and ran his thumb across her cheek.

"Stay strong, ja?" He smiled and turned, disappearing into the crowd. He quickly slid through the crowd toward the door, and headed out for the waiting limo, and quickly got in and took out his cell phone to call Dok.

_"Jawohl, _Herr Major?"

"I'm returning, Dok," the Major said quickly, then hung up and put it back into his pocket before taking off his mask and putting a hand to his face. He stayed that way until the limo pulled into the hotel lot and the door opened for him. He silently walked into the hotel and met Dok halfway up to the suite.

"Herr Major, vhat happened? You're back sooner than I thought." The Major didnt answer the whole way up to the suite, nor did he answer when he walked into one of the empty bedrooms and shut the door. Dok waited patiently outside the door for a few minutes until his Major stepped back out, wearing his normal clothes and brushing his hair back into it's usual comfortable place. "Herr Major, vhat happened there?" The Major gave Dok a side glance and shook his head.

"Nothing," he replied. "Make arrangements to leave for South America poste haste." Dok nodded and turned to make a few calls, but was then stopped by Major. "_Nein._...ve need to make a stop by Germany first..."

* * *

It was two days later, and Seras was still on Cloud 9. She had a gentle airy look about her, and she performed her given tasks with a little more skip and a wider smile. Most of the staff were somewhat worried, but both Integra and Alucard knew exactly why Seras was acting like a lovestruck schoolgirl. They had both watched from the beginning when Seras was getting rude stares and remarks. Of course no one would look at Alucard that way, that was a given. But Seras was apparently free game.

They had also watched as the vampire hunter from Germany, as they found out later, had asked her to dance, and had spent the better part of four hours with her; they had even seen them kiss before the man from Germany had to leave.

Integra was a little skeptical and protective of Seras, telling Alucard that she didnt want Seras to get hurt. Alucard had shrugged and said that 1) Seras was old enough to take heartbreak and 2) he knew a genuine kiss when he saw one and that was a genuine kiss he saw, and that perhaps Integra should invite Max Weissen over for tea sometime.

But that day, Integra was reading her evening paper, and actually spit out some of the tea she was drinking when her eye skimmed over the heading of the foreign matters page. Alucard, who was accompanying her, noticed and asked what was wrong. She silently handed the paper over for him to read.

"...We have to tell Seras," he said.

"Tell me what?" Seras asked, just walking in. Integra went silent and Alucard beckoned her over with his hand. "...Master Alucard, what is it?" Alucard handed her the paper, and she took it, confused, and read down the page.

**...Known German vampire hunter leader Max Alden Weissen was pronounced deceased, after his body was found in the charred remains of his home in Dresden, which was the subject of supposed arson...**

That was all Seras could read before the paper slid from her hands and landed on the table. Silence ensued around the dining room for a few moments before Alucard reached over to touch her arm in some sense of comfort, but Seras shoved his hand away and ran toward her room before collapsing at her desk and crying into her arms.

* * *

Back in South America, the Major didnt even look at his paper, or even at the news as he stood by a window and looked out of it at the setting sun. He wasnt even smiling as his eyes caught a single star in the dark blue sky. He simply had to do what he had to do; it was better than having the real Max never knowing who she even was.

But somewhere in his chest, something twinged as the thought about Seras....in the moon and starlight, her blue eyes shining through her mask, and that lovely dress she wore......the kiss.....

...The dance...

The Major sighed, shook his head, and turned away from the window to walk back to the main part of the base. He didnt need to think of such things right now, not with a new war to plan.

* * *

_That's all that there really is that needs to be said._


End file.
